2003-07-07

When one is in the middle of the SARS emergency it is easy to focus almost exclusively on its local impact. Toronto's arts and entertainment community has been seriously affected by performers unwilling to come to the city, cancelled performances and reduced attendance at performances that have been held.

However, as Eva Johansson relates in the May issue of International Arts Manager, the arts communities in Asia have been hit even more seriously. In Taiwan, a ten-day contemporary music festival was cancelled after its organizers learned that one group scheduled to perform had travelled on the same plane as someone who was infected with SARS. In Beijing, all theatres and public venues were closed in an effort to contain the spread. Prior to that, the Third International Beijing Piano Competition was cancelled and tours by the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra were called off. In Hong Kong, many visiting artists and groups decided not to come, forcing the cancellation of many events by the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra and the Hong Kong Philharmonic.

At concerts that did to on, ushers and audiences alike wore face masks and according to the Hong Kong Sinfonietta's chief executive, at a concert in late March "nobody coughed during a whole movement."

In Japan, performances by Chinese artists have been cancelled and Singapore's Asian Arts Mart has taken many health precautions to encourage attendance. Among the precautions are health declaration forms for delegates, daily temperature checks and certification by a doctor for anyone who appears unwell that the do not have SARS.

It is too soon to determine what the economic impact to arts organizations will be in any of the countries affected. But for arts organizations everywhere that are chronically short of funds, it is certain to be significant.